Saturday, March 30, 2013

VIDEO: Ramos, Strasburg ready for Opening Day

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In this first video, Davey Johnson reveals that Wilson Ramos will be the catcher for Opening Day. You will then see reaction from Ramos himself on hearing the news.

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In this second video, Opening Day starter Stephen Strasburg talks about the significance of entering his first full season as a major league player.

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comments:

Chase, Thanks for all the coverage yesterday. Putting up with us can't be easy. Loved all the tweets as well.

Also, Finally got to watch the Baseball Show.I really enjoyed you all bringing in other folks from the Other CSN Affiliates. Like hearing about other teams and what is going on with potential competition.

Seconding MicheleS. Additionally, now I sometimes read a post by Chase and don't realize that it's not by Mark until I see the byline. Nice to see Chase spreading his wings on the blog and on tv. Atta way, kid. (No offense, but you're all kids to me. :-))

So I'm eager to hear how things went at the Park yesterday with the new STH cards. Did anyone use one? See any problems at the gate? Were the ushers up to speed with the new program? I haven't seen anything about a disaster on the SportsBog, so I assume things went ok, but would love some reports.

Someone asked about a meetup on Opening Day. I remember from the playoffs that Insiders gathered either an hour or a half hour before game time on the Infield Gallery level at the picnic tables behind Section 312. We could do that again if folks want to.

I used mine cards yesterday, Things went fine, no wait, no hang ups for me. Usher just looked at the card and took me to my seat.

The only thing I want to know about is aren't we supposed to get discounts on food with the cards or is that my memory failing? My Nephew went to get some food with the card and he said the cashier's were clueless about the card.

The STH cards work just like a Metro SmarTrip card. Walk up to the gate, stick the card into the gap in the ticket reader (same ones as last year) where you would otherwise put a ticket, green light flashes, and boom, you're in. Just like a Metro SmarTrip card, only with no annoying Metro on the other end.

I believe Feffer's letter said cardholders would be offered discounts on food, along with other offers. Not an automatic discount like in the team store. And eventually we are supposed to be able to load cash on the cards and use them in the food lines. But first there would need to be card readers in the concession stands. Did anyone see those yesterday? I imagine that once they have all the cardreaders up and running we'll start getting notices about special offers that are available. Probably we'll have to pay with the card to get the special discounts. That way the clueless workers in the food lines aren't involved in the financial transaction. They hand you the food, punch into the register what you ordered, and you flash the card to pay and get the discount.

Andy Pfeffer ( of Take Back the Park and Natitude fame ), was interviewed during the broadcast. He said the discounts and special lines will start later in the season. Apparently they are multi- phasing things. He is almost as energetic and intense as Bryce.

I did run into another STH who would have prefered paper tickets b/c he was having a hard time assigning tickets in his group, Luckily for me, I am the group, so I just have to email people tickets it they can't come with me to the game

222, would be fun to see Insiders but my husband is going into work first and I don't know how early we'll get there. Also, I don't want to miss the OD ceremonies, which are supposed to start around 12:09, according to an email from the Nats.

Nothing has popped up about Chris Young and you have pitchers like Freddy Garcia who was in a similar situation just signed a MiLB deal with the Orioles. My guess is we will hear something soon as Young's agent is probably negotiating with someone(s) now.

Rizzo could get very lucky here as the Nats would appear to still be in the mix. Ken Rosenthal confirmed that there were at least 8 teams that scouted Chris Young on his final Spring start.

The biggest question mark I think is who is the presumptive 6th starter on this team? I know there has been talk about Zach Duke and Craig Stammen which is in the realm of possibilities but who would come out of AAA as the 1st man if Davey needed someone?

Tconstant posted the other day about the Nats new market based pricing for tickets to hot games like O.D. I went to the website and was able to find 2 seats together in only a few of the available sections. So the Nats are basically trying to get rid of the remaining scattered singles at inflated prices. Some different sections are available today compared to the other day, but again, few pairs if any can be found.

At first I was pissed that the Nats were going to interfere with the secondary market (and they already get a hefty cut of StubHub sales) by inflating the price of remaining seats. But now I think they are helping sellers, which is fine with me. For example, why would someone pay $105 per ticket plus service fees (at least $5 per ticket, plus a steep per order charge) for two scattered Infield Box seats, if they were even available, when they could pay $116 per ticket on StubHub (all service fees included) for two seats together in Section 116? Or $65 plus service charges per scattered Outfield Reserve seat when you can get two together on StubHub for $49.30 each, all charges included?

It looks like the Nats are adjusting the prices to match the lowest available price for that section on StubHub. But they can't keep up in real time, and the seats they have left to sell by definition aren't going to be as good as those in the secondary market. So thanks Nats, for your greed.

I'm sure Feel/Tony/Mac will have some thoughts on this, and I'm interested in the reaction of others who use StubHub.

Farid, check out Buster Olney today, Stras was tied for 3rd I think on the 100 mph counts. Now as for this spring, don't read to much in the numbers on the radar guns online, not sure if those are accurate. Unless you have access to the scout or official team guns, then everything down in ST is suspect.

It is my understanding, based on more than one interview, that Stras wants to go deeper into games, be more pitch - efficient. Throwing 100 all the time is not the sign of a great pitcher. Getting hitters out is the priority and does not require the full 100 on every pitch.

One of my favorite pitchers of all time--Greg Maddux. 355 lifetime victories with a fastball in the high 80's-low 90's--a won-lost record primarily garnered with LOCATION first, and late-breaking action 2nd, and speed 3rd.

Thanks, sec222, but I'm hard of hearing, and if I'm surrounded by people who are chit-chatting, I'll hear them rather than the P.A. announcer. Will look forward to the possibility of a future gathering, though.

Section 222 said...

We'll miss you 1a. By the way, I expect we'll be able to watch the O.D. ceremonies on the big screen from the meetup. March 30, 2013 11:02 AM

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About the Author

Mark Zuckerman has covered the Nationals since the franchise arrived in D.C. He's been a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America since 2001 and is a Hall of Fame voter. Email mzuckerman@comcastsportsnet.com.